When Downingtown's leading actress, 6-0 senior Nikki Benedix, sat down with five fouls, Central Catholic sophomore Michelle Marciniak and her supporting actresses stepped forward to steal the limelight. Marciniak scored seven of the Vikettes' last nine points and Central posted a 78-73 victory over highly regarded Downingtown.

"I just said, 'I want the ball,' " Marciniak said. "I went where it was."

The Whippets came to town for a game that showed how closely the District 1 and 11 representatives will be matched in the upcoming PIAA State Tournament. Downingtown is 15-3 overall and second in the Ches-Mont League to Coatesville. Coach Bob Schnure's squad won the state 4A championship two years ago, the same year Central Catholic won the 3A title. Both are now 4A.

Benedix (who has already signed a full-ride offer to Villanova) is the only starter left over from that state championship squad. She is averaging 25 points a game this year and scored 34 points last night, 23 of them in the first half and 16 of them in the first quarter. In one 20-second span in the first quarter, she scored six points by hitting a layup, then stealing two straight inbounds passes and turning them into layups.

Central beat Downingtown 63-48 last year in the first round of the state playoffs. While four of the Whippet starters are now seniors, they have welcomed outstanding freshman Tina Nicholson to the lineup. Last night, the guard looked like she was gliding on ice as she added 21 points and ran the ball near halfcourt on Downingtown's late-game stall.

With 2:56 left in the third quarter, Benedix committed her fourth foul and sat down. While she was on the bench, Downingtown's 56-52 momentum lead stopped cold. Central hit a 9-2 spurt that meant a 61-58 lead at the end of the frame.

Benedix re-entered the game for the last quarter, then fouled out with 1:30 left on an offensive rebound. The Whippets were leading 73-69.

"My eyes lit up when she went out," said Kopp. "Nicholson is a great player but you hope that a freshman can't do it all. We knew they'd have to depend on her. That last two minutes was the Michelle Marciniak Show. She hit some crucial baskets when she zipped through and went one-one one to the basket. I tell her when she has the angle, go for it."

Off Benedix's last foul, Marciniak (29 points)hit two free throws to close it to 73-71. The Whippets stalled with Nicholson running it in circles. With 1:00 on the clock, Vikette senior Jen Sekella stole it and dished to Marciniak for the tying layup (73-73). Ten seconds later, junior Monica Lindenmuth stole the ball and dished to Dorothy Downing for the 75-73 go-ahead with 43 seconds left.

Nicholson missed a jump shot and Central won the rebound on a jump ball with 29 seconds to go. Five seconds down the court, Marciniak drew a foul before an attempted layup. She made the front end of the one-and-one, then stole the ensuing rebound and put it up for two more points (78-73) with 12 seconds left. Downingtown missed two shots in the last seven seconds.

"We made a lot of mental errors," said Schnure. "We know there are some very competitive teams in District 11 this year. We were looking to come up here to get a good game and we got it. This was a good measure of how the districts should square up."

After beating Whitehall 50-48 last Wednesday in an East Penn Conference game that left both teams with one league loss, Central was out to "have fun" last night, Kopp said.

Marciniak said she thought the Downingtown game was "equally" as important as the Whitehall contest.